Noir89
by justalildifferent101
Summary: Greenhorn trainer Dawn, after having lost a battle to Paul, has her safety put in jeopardy when a murderous gang of Galactic rebels in search for revenge against their violet haired ex-leader set her in their sights as ransom. Gameverse Dawn, Barry, and Lucas meet animeverse Paul and Ash.
1. Purple Hair

**Author's Note: **Yes! Finally got chapter 1 of this story out! Warning, there is some pokelove ahead! It is very adorable!

Enjoy the beginning of Noir.89, folks!

* * *

_Dawn._

...

Sinnoh's streets were always blanketed in snow in its state of eternal winter, with the harsh, wipping streaks of icy wind it brings.

Beside me my Buizel clung to the rose laced hem of my pink coat, scorned by the cold. Deep inside my head I wondered how it could come to this, trudging through Veilstone City in pursuit of the Pokémon Center, an alleyway, anything. A trainer with 3 badges should be more prepared than this. And then I scowled.

But not this trainer.

I trudged past a few stores, all closed due to the blizzard, and the more that fell behind me with time, the more idiotic I felt. The scream of the blizzard was all that I could hear; it had become the sound of my thinking, and I might have just been too close to fainting, but behind the hapless noise I heard something else. It was a zapping, scorching, and the sound of a Flamethrower hissing against the snow. Between the sounds of battle, a human voice was shouting orders. It was all too faint, but it was there. My eyes peered through the onslaught of snow into where there was a pause between two buildings, leaving an alley between them. Bright yellow and red flashes alternated and swelled dully between the blast of snow.

The words barely left my frozen lips as I gasped, "Oh, finally,"

Hauling myself to my last hope, Buizel and I fought the biting cold wind plodded through the snow and into the darkness of the passage.

…

Instantly, complete darkness engulfed me. Above my head, the blizzard buzzed across the building's rooftops to miss the groove formed between them.

I squinted through the confusing array of red and yellow flashes that grew more defined the further I walked. "Is anybody here?" My voice rattled with my shivering.

Suddenly, the current flash of red was jerked to a stop.

"Hold up!" An angry male voice ordered, then the steady sound of footsteps. The sound of a person. All I could do was stand dumbly in the middle of the alley and clutch my upper arms in the chilling air. Buizel positioned herself in front of me protectively.

The crunching rhythm ended directly in front of me. This time, his voice was within conversational distance, with a deep, rich tone to it that shocked me awake.

"Elekid, give me some light,"

There was a low zapping sound, and a soft glow of light appeared out of nowhere, casting a large splotch of light onto the faces of an Elekid, whose electricity crossing through the antennae on its head produced the light, and that of a boy no older than I was.

I studied his features carefully, too cold to utter a coherent sentence. His eyes were a striking coal black, glassy and cold cast in the light, shadowed out by a fringe of messy violet hair. His mouth was curled slightly downward in a sort of curious frown. All I could manage was a squeaking sound from the back of my throat before a rush of cold air sped through the alley and my responding shudder cut off the words.

He scoffed. "Would you look what we have here,"

The Elekid at his side chortled in a curious, electronic way.

Yellow light bounced in his black eyes. "What the hell are you doing out here? Have you noticed the temperature, idiot?"

I glared up at him from under my eyelashes, which were literally painted with frost, and shivered harder. Of course I noticed. At last, my body crumpled with a lash of biting, frigid air, and I fell to my knees.

"D-don't you think I kn-n-" A tremor rattled my bones, stopping me midsentence. All of a sudden, the boy grew closer to me at an alarming rate before I could scramble away. I flailed and screamed with as much velocity as my frozen body could manage as his arms wrapped around my waist and slung me over his shoulder.

I kicked and fought as violently as possible, momentarily unaware of the fact that I was wearing a miniskirt. "L-l-let me go! NOW!"

I might as well have been screaming into a purple haired lamppost. He shrugged, and my body bounced uncomfortably on his shoulder. "Oh, shut up, will you? I'm doing you a favor,"

"I d-d-don't accept favors from strangers,"

"Okay, then consider it a kidnapping,"

I moaned, kneeing him in the ribcage. "Can I at least walk? I'm wearing a skirt…"

"Nope,"

Okay, now I had about three options. One, screw modesty and try to wriggle out of his grip. Two, let him drag me wherever. Three, have Buizel attack him. One was… an option. Two was dangerous, but then again, I could always go to option three if he did turn out to be hauling me somewhere dangerous. Three was just inhumane. I would never do that; not unless it was absolutely necessary.

Looks like it was option one. Sucking in a gust of breath, I let out a fresh scream and smashed my knees as hard as I could into his chest, trying to slide farther and farther forward so that maybe I'd fall out of his grasp. He solved the problem pretty quickly.

He secured my legs with his free arm, and growled sharply up at me. "Give it a rest!"

Defeat hung over me like a blanket of stench. "You know, you're stupidly strong for a 10 year old,"

"Fourteen!" he hissed, before I heard the sound of a shoe connecting with wood, and he shouted out; "Reggie! I found this girl in an alley!"

The boy carried me into the center of a living room, thinly decorated with moss green walls and hardwood floors. Two charcoal gray couches were situated opposite of each other on a shaggy maroon floor rug where a Bibarel was lounging, the aroma of banana bread wafting through the room. On the wall was a cabinet that's contents were exposed by the glass door; it was filled with gym badges and Frontier symbols. I ogled for a moment, before I felt my waist being released and I was dropped roughly onto the couch, snatching the breath from my chest.

I floundered into a sitting position as the boy moved away from me to stand in a doorway between this and another room. "Hey! What is going on here?" I roared, to no answer.

Purple Hair stood in that doorway talking casually to somebody in the other room, and after a moment, I picked up the word "Hypothermia" and a young man with hair just as violet as the one who'd kidnapped me burst from the room with a pair of oven mitts on his hands. Their resemblance nearly bowled me onto the floor.

"What were you doing out there?" The man said, slapping his forehead. "Wait here,"

He left me sitting on the couch, venturing into the next room and momentarily emerging with a mug of some hot liquid in it. I eagerly slurped it down, letting the steaming drink swell and warm my insides. Purple Hair no. 2 watched on with a look of deep concern on his face. His gaze was on my hands.

"Sorry, but you shouldn't have been outside during a blizzard like that. What's your name?"

I popped my head up and licked a bit of hot chocolate from my lip. "Oh. I'm Dawn," I gave him a suspicious look, but it didn't last long; I dunked more of the hot liquid down my throat. It felt so nice. "Who are you?"

"Reggie. Him over there? That's my younger brother, Paul," He made a jarring motion with his thumb to point at the staircase, where Paul was leaning back against the rail, scrutinizing me.

I nodded, flushing slightly red. "Thanks. I… I guess we should be on our way, then, huh Buizel?" There was no replying cry, and I panicked, analyzing the room. Once I saw her, though, I nearly laughed out loud.

"Buizel! To a stranger? Really?" I laughed, because she was by the staircase, or more accurately, by Elekid, trying desperately to wrap her little arms around the Electric-type. Elekid was hissing out in frustration, trying to get in a good whack at her.

Paul rolled his eyes at the scene as I giggled over the cuteness of Buizel's crush. He shook his head. "Just shock it, Elekid,"

"Hey!" I shouted, but it was too late. An angry hum resonated in Elekid, and a current of electricity swept from him into Buizel. She flopped over in a dead faint. I scurried over to where she'd gone down and scooped her up; as a newborn, she wasn't all that heavy.

"What's the big idea, Paul? She's only a baby!"

My rage flared as he offered me only a dark chuckle. "Your baby needs to control herself,"

"You think you're so good, do you?" I leaned up into his face in hopes of startling him. "Let's battle then. We'll see who's the better trainer,"

Suddenly, Reggie was animate and panicky. "Uh, Dawn, I don't know if that's such a good idea-"

"I accept," Paul cut his brother off with a slicing motion with his arm.

"Great!" I bounded across the room and flung open the door, stupidly. The second that was done, there was a rattling from the roof, and a barrelful of snow was dumped onto my head. The entire neighborhood must've heard my scream as Reggie and Paul erupted in laughter.

* * *

Reggie perched himself on a rock a number of meters from the backyard, which was to be our battlefield.

"This will be a two-on-two single battle. No items may be used. All two pokémon must be in a dead faint to signify a trainer's defeat. Got it, you two?"

I nodded, readying Buizel's pokeball in my hand. Paul's expression was unfazed as we both said, "Got it,"

"Alright, get going!"

"Buizel, your turn!" She was summoned to the field in a gust of blue light decorated with bubbles; my favorite capsule.

Paul scoffed and threw out the only pokémon I knew of as under his ownership; "Elekid, let's go!"

From the pokeball burst the Electric pokémon, glowing with yellow energy. Instantly, Buizel was starry eyed, and I wilted at the subtle strategy. He might as well have had Elekid use attract.

I bit my lip. "Use Quick Attack, Buizel!"

Hesitantly, Buizel's feet sped over the ground at the intense momentum that she had practiced. Her body moved so speedily that she became literally an orange blur rushing at Elekid. Paul merely stood and observed as Buizel came in range of his pokémon.

Just as she was about to crash into Elekid, she veered out of her path and skidded to a stop behind him.

I gaped. "Buizel? Why did you stop, girl?"

Elekid looked strangely smug as electricity pulsed through his forearms.

"Thunder Punch!" Paul ordered. Instantly, Elekid slammed his electrified fist into Buizel's side, causing her to cry out in pain. She collapsed in a static-y heap in the middle of the field, and I dashed to her side.

"Oh no! Buizel!" I knelt beside her to turn her onto her back. Two X's spotted either of her eyes. Fainted.

"You can always forfeit,"

I reabsorbed Buizel, thanking her for her effort, and smirked up at Paul. "I could," I reached for my second and last pokeball. "But that would be out of character for me,"

Paul looked amused as I tossed out my final pokémon.

"Show him what we've got, Croagunk!"

And from her pokeball, Croagunk appeared, his arms already steeped with glowing violet poison. He was my strongest pokémon and loved Buizel like a little sister.

"Time to whip Buizel's abusive little boyfriend," I laughed. "Now Poison Jab, Croagunk!"

"Elekid, Thunderbolt!"

It was now a test of speed. Elekid's body coursed with electricity, and a Thunderbolt was released from the prongs on his head straight for Croagunk.

I jumped at my idea. "Now toss a Mud Bomb at the Thunderbolt, Croagunk, but don't stop!"

Croagunk smoothly gathered a hard packed cannon of mud and chucked it up in the air to meet the electric attack. The sparks fizzled and flailed against the mud, but was quickly dissipated.

"Yes!" I cheered. "Now get it with Poison Jab!"

Obediently, Croagunk smashed his glowing purple arms into Elekid, sending him flying.

Paul's face contorted with shock as his pokémon slammed headfirst into the dirt. "Thunderbolt, again!"

After shakily getting to his feet, Elekid's prongs pulsed with more electricity.

"Mud Bomb!" I shouted, and Croagunk hurled another ball of mud at Elekid just as the latter unleashed a blast of electricity at Croagunk. The mud struck Elekid for a super effective hit, while Croagunk took a full Thunderbolt from the Electric-type.

Silence.

Paul watched in disbelief as the remaining mud sank to the floor, his fainted Elekid lying amongst it. Croagunk, however, was standing shakily, one hand pressed into the ground for balance.

Reggie looked incredulous as Paul returned the pokémon to the corresponding ball. "Paul's down to his last pokémon. This is interesting,"

"Hmph. Standby, Grotle!"

Grotle. That was the evolved form of Turtwig, and a Grass type, if I had my facts straight. Maybe a well timed Poison Jab would end it with a victory for me. But Croagunk was badly beaten, chest heaving with the effort of remaining conscious.

"Let's give it a Poison Jab, Croagunk!"

Croagunk's eyes lit with determination, arms seething with poison. He kicked up a gust of dust and shot at Grotle, while the Grass-type lounged lazily before his trainer.

"Sunny Day!" Paul's voice was coursing with anger, realizing how close he could be to defeat. Grotle's head lifted to the sky, summoning a huge ray of sunlight to blast into Croagunk's eyes. With a strangled cry, Croagunk halted the attack to sweep his arm over his face.

Paul was shouting orders like a machine. "Mud Shot, now!"

And it was over; Croagunk dropped his arms from his face just in time to be slapped at close range by the super-effective Mud Shot. He was thrown backwards off his feet, and I dashed up to catch him in my open arms.

"Croagunk…?" His blue body quivered, too weak to battle either way.

Reggie hopped off of the rock he sat on. "Looks like Croagunk is unable to battle. Paul is the winner,"

Paul shrugged, holding out his hand for his prize earnings. I pulled out about 500 and handed him the money.

Reggie patted my shoulder apologetically, and I murmured miserably to my fallen pokémon. "I'm so sorry, Croagunk. I didn't know he was that tough,"

"I guess it wasn't fair I didn't tell you,"

"Paul?" I whipped around to see him standing behind me with his hands crammed in his pockets, nonchalant.

"You won't beat me with that kind of weak strategy. It's so sad it almost makes me want to take those pokémon from you and train them myself,"

My eyes grew childishly wide. "You think they would be happier with a stronger trainer?"

He nodded, not expecting what was coming next.

"Then I'll just have to work harder to beat you then, huh?"

That stifled him for a moment before he bowed his head in a curious way so that only I could see his eyes. The sun bounced off the snow to cast a glassy glow on his eyes "You're never going to get better without somebody to keep you sharp,"

"Oh, really?"

He flashed me a quick smirk. "Yup,"

I pondered this, holding Croagunk closer to me. "So you're saying that I need a rival? I don't know. You might be too strong for a training buddy, if you get it,"

"Promise to give me more of a challenge next time, and I'll go easier on you," he compromised.

I smiled, foreseeing my victories over him in the future, among other things. "Sounds like a deal,"

It wasn't long before a little shiver rattled my body, yanking me away from Paul. It was only until that small gesture that I realized his face had only been inches from mine. His face lit up as if suddenly recalling something, and he took off through the snow into the sliding doors at the back of the house.

"Come in. You're going to get even colder out here," He slung open the door and slammed it closed behind him to disappear behind the black tinted glass. In my arms, Croagunk stirred a bit, and finally his black rimmed eyes opened as I trudged through the snow and into the house.

Nearly an hour later, a phone was pressed to my ear between my shoulder and cheek, words of debate flying from both me and my mother's tongues.

"You know I don't watch the news, so that's completely invalid, Mom,"

I heard her sigh crackle over the connection. "I told you it was going to be cold. Why don't you listen?"

"I can handle cold. That was a blizzard," I groaned, rubbing my forehead. Anyway, I knew she had only been worried, and I changed the subject. "But I'm fine, okay? I met two brothers, and I'm in their house. At least, I think this is their house…"

Paul, not glancing from his pokedex, corrected me. "Reggie's. I just mill around here when it gets too cold for travelling,"

"Thanks, Paul," Sarcasm coated my voice. "Well, what he said. I'll be leaving as soon as I can. The Pokémon Center is snowed in and I want Croagunk and Buizel healed before I take off,"

"Perfectly fine," My mother presented me with her best calm voice, but I could sense her worry. "Don't stay long, okay? You don't know these boys,"

"Sure. Love you, Mom,"

"Love you, too, sweetheart- oh, and one more thing," She paused for a good moment while I waited uncertainly at the end of the phone, toying with braided bracelet on my wrist.

"The younger one is your age, right?"

I mumbled an "Mhm,"

Another pause. "Just… be careful. Okay, honey?"

"Um, of course. Bye," I hung up the phone with those last words ringing in my head.

_Be careful_…?

Just as the relapse went through my head, a lean, threatening black car rolled to a stop in front of the house, as I could see through the window beside the front door where I stood. Reggie was in the kitchen, and Paul was absorbed in something he'd been reading on his pokedex, neither being able to notice the car. Painted on the hood was the number **89 **painted on in white.

A stab of fear twisted in my chest, more than suspicion. The driver's door was flung open.

I stared, the terror growing into a hot white light. "Paul, Reggie! Were you expecting visitors?"

Reggie appeared in the doorway connecting the kitchen to the living room. "No, why-" His eyes then fell on the group of darkly clothed teenagers that emerged from the car, and horror struck his features.

There was a vicious banging at the door.

"Come on out, Paul! We know you're in there!"

Suddenly, the corresponding purple haired boy jumped to his feet. "Oh, shit! Not them-"

Reggie was suddenly in action; he whipped the phone from my hand and slung it back in place, hauling me from the living room while shielding me from sight.

"Get her out of here!" Reggie hissed, giving me a hard shove towards the back sliding doors. Paul was instantly behind me.

I was too shocked, nor was I strong enough, to refuse Paul's grip as he tugged me from the house. Tripping in the entire escape effort, I could only cry, _"What is going on?" _

Paul's voice was fast, dark and angry in my ear. "Just keep it down. I'll explain it later,"

Helplessly confused, I twisted around and ran as fast as I possibly could behind him through the thick blankets of snow in Reggie's back yard, and we tumbled into the forest to the dying barks of fury banging at the front door.


	2. Old Accomplices

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry for all the confusion! I should've made my first author's note more informative. I've updated my profile with answers to questions about the fic that I got from PMs and reviews. If you were confused, check it out, please! However, please note that I only wrote about things that _will not_ be explained directly in the story.

I hope a little bit of confusion can been alleviated with that. Some of your questions may be answered in this chapter, so read on, and remember to review! Also, there is a bit of bad language and violence in this chapter. Nothing that would send nuns into a coma, though. ;D

Enjoy, folks!

* * *

"Enough already!" My feet caught a thick root on the ground, helping me jam myself to a full stop. In the abruptness, Paul's hand slid off of mine. "If you don't explain to me what's going on right now, I'm calling the police,"

For a long moment, Paul stood there on the other side of the root, panting, his coal eyes flaming as they watched me toggle my cell phone. I folded my arms and raised an eyebrow in inquiry at his seemed defeat. That was just too easy.

All of a sudden, he shrugged, breaking his rigid stance to throw me a heartstopping smirk.

I gulped. "What are you looking at me like that for- hey!" In a flash, he swatted the phone from my hand and snatched me off of my feet and over his shoulder. "NO! Not again! Put me down!"

It was just like in one of those cheap comedies, where I was graced with the role of butt monkey. Buizel and Croagunk were in Reggie's house, my phone was in Paul's pocket, and I was too cold and fatigued to put up a fight. My words flew out like gunfire.

"I swear, the second you drop me, I will kick your ASS! Do you hear me?"

Paul shrugged sharply for added measure. "Yeah, I hear you. Can you shut up, actually? Do you realize the kind of trouble you're in?"

I allowed myself to slump miserably on his shoulder and muttered, "Not as much as you're going to be,"

"I really doubt that, Dawn," Knowing flatness seeped into his tone.

I frowned. "Prove it. Tell me who those guys were, right now, and you can take me to Hoenn, if you want to,"

His pace stopped immediately, throwing my whole body forward with the halt. A severe quietness engulfed the forest as he thought, and for the first time I noticed how dead and twisted the branches were, supporting the buckets of snow piled on top of them from the blizzard. Suddenly I was dragged from my stupor by the sensation of slipping from his shoulder, before finally I collapsed into the snowy ground, flat on my face.

"Thanks," Snow was crammed into my mouth from the face plant, garbling my sarcasm. "Ew. Pokémon probably pee in this stuff, Paul,"

Paul's black eyes glittered with dark humor. "You wanted to me to let you go,"

"You act like such a jerk, you know that?" I deadpanned, picking myself up onto my feet. For a moment I realized that what I'd said was me acknowledging that I knew that he wasn't a bad person at all.

He pondered my statement. "I know. I kind of am,"

That struck me for a moment. "Exactly what do you mean?"

A moment of silence settled over the snow dressed woods before he answered me. "I mean not everything I've done is honorable,"

"That holds the same for everyone," I said matter-of-factly. "Can you explain what you did that was so terrible?"

Staring intently at me, he leaned back against a snowy tree and began.

… … … … … … … … … … … …

"Do you know about Team Galactic?" He said casually.

Images of malicious-looking people in glamorized spacesuits floated through my head. "Yup. They were the reason my mom wouldn't let me start training until I was 14,"

"Well, I spent a couple of months helping the police arrest Team Galactic's 89th division of grunts. Those guys were-"

There was a chorus of crunching that stopped his words. After a confirming look over his shoulder, he grabbed me by the arm and practically towed me through the snow, into a thicker bank of underbrush and conifer trees. I didn't dare try to struggle away as the sound of feet plodding through snow marched on; from where I was positioned behind Paul, I could make out a multitude of shoes, mostly thin old ones layered with dirt, pass by where we crouched. My heart galloped in riotous patterns in the haunted silence. At last, the sound of human movement vanished.

Then I did something unimaginably stupid. Something I would regret forever.

I coughed.

There was not an ounce of ambiguity to the sound, nothing to pass it off as a generic sound of the woods, like a pokémon scrambling through the trees. It was entirely human. Our heartbeats were suspended in midair for less than a second.

An angry male voice growled. "Over there!"

Paul and I instantly leapt to our feet and sped in opposite directions, and the ambush began. Panic and horror built in my throat as one grunt's ugly paw slapped down on my shoulder mid-sprint, forcing me to make an awkward twist sideways in order to escape his grip. In a split second he slid his foot beneath my imbalanced structure, yanking my legs from beneath me and throwing me to the ground back first. Despite the thick layer of snow on the ground, I could feel my spine rebound against the solidness of the forest floor beneath, snatching the scream from my mouth. Before I could jump back up and lunge for the tree's shadows, I was flipped forward onto my stomach, crushed beneath the weight of my attacker with a huge hand clamped over my mouth to strangle my screams. No matter which way or how violently I kicked, my foot wouldn't connect right with his body.

On the other side of the small clearing, three grunts were working to subdue Paul- one pressing on his back trying to keep him from getting onto his knees, with the other two pinning down his arms with their own bodies. Animalistic fury lit the black of Paul's eyes as he thrashed beneath all of them, nearly bucking off the guy straddling his back.

A grunt hissed at a man who was standing idly by a tree. "Will you help me get him down?"

The lazy looking man came barreling at Paul with a truly terrifying smirk on his mouth, jerking his foot up and into his face. Another anguished shriek burst from my throat as Paul's head snapped backward with the impact. As punishment for the outburst, the grunt trapping me gave me a hard slap in the face and clenched his hand tighter over my mouth. I could taste blood where my lips were smashed against my teeth.

"I guess we got extra lucky, huh, Paul?"

The voice was dripping with evil, coming from the one who had kicked Paul in the face.

As he backed away to get a broad view of the two people he'd attacked, I could make out the entirety of his features. He was broad and thick-bodied; his eyes were murky green with a layer of icy coldness to them, with matted black-brown hair grown to his shoulders. Deviant, evil aura radiated from where he stood.

I held deathly still under the grunt's hold on me.

Paul looked nearly unfazed while being incapacitated, except for the painful looking gash ground opened by the man's shoe on his cheek.

The speaking grunt, supposedly their leader, rubbed his chin. "We killed two birds with one stone. So what do you think would be suitable payback, boys?"

From the unanimous leer on all of their faces, I could tell they all had ideas. Terror washed over me, more ferociously then anything I'd ever felt. I only had one grunt near me, right? If I could position my arms properly, I might be able to throw him off me. But then again, that required a good deal of power- something my frozen muscles were incapable of right now. In order to prepare, I clenched my arms around my stomach to warm them up faster.

Suddenly, I could hear Paul's deep, pain-marred voice. "Are you sure you want to try anything? Did you notice how close we are to Solaceon? If you hurt us, you would get caught easily,"

"On the contrary, buddy, by the time anybody shows up we'll be long gone,"

Explosive fury finally took over my body. I allowed my teeth sank into the grunt's hand, followed by his cuss as he whipped his hand from my mouth. The moment I could speak, I sucked in a huge gust of air and screeched, "Will somebody tell me why you're doing this! _Please!"_

It was then that I saw little red drops drip from my chin and spot the kicked up tufts of snow before me. His roughness had quite literally crushed my mouth; my split lips stung in the still potent cold as I waited.

As if the leader hadn't realized that I wasn't an object and was capable of speech, he raised an eyebrow. "Shut up, will you? I'm trying to negotiate here,"

"I don't care," I hissed. My bravery was fueled by rage; I didn't know how long it would last. "I want to know what's going on-"

"_Dawn!"_ A vicious growl interrupted me. It was Paul's. "Just calm down for a minute,"

Dismayed, I allowed myself to sink into silence. Luck was with me, though. Warmth had finally enveloped my arms, giving me full feeling of them. I planted my hands on the ground.

"Do whatever the hell you want with me, but she has nothing to do with this. Just let her go,"

Green-eyes didn't seem to consider this. "She wanted to know what's going on, so how about ya tell her, Paul? Besides, I like reminding myself of why I want to kill you right now,"

For a few long moments, perfect silence lay over the clearing. There was threat seeping through the man's voice as he walked over and bent down to Paul's level.

"I said to tell her. Out loud," he snarled.

Paul tore his head in the opposite direction, scowling. Finally, he dropped his head in defeat.

"Get your fucking face away from me, and I will,"

Slowly, he complied. Backing away from Paul to watch my reaction. Practiced apathy fell over my face as I glared up at him, rousing a condescending chuckle from him.

Paul's eyes stayed glued on mine as he began again, from where we started before the attack.

"Team Galactic is a mafia that was once composed of 90 divisions of grunts, all under one boss named Cyrus. A little less than a year ago I returned from Hoenn and started defeating Sinnoh gym leaders. I was about 3 badges in when I got a call from the police asking me to help them divide and arrest Team Galactic. I agreed to do it. Meanwhile the grunts of Team Galactic were getting restless for their end of their deal with Cyrus. He'd promised all of them cash rewards to be given to them when his plan was complete. It had been 3 years, and the plan wasn't close to getting anywhere.

"One division was particularly restless. This was the 89th one, or Galactic co. #89. I made a deal with them to give them a portion of my winnings from gym battles if they defected from Team Galactic, until whatever Cyrus had promised them was paid off. In order for me to prove my trustworthiness, I kicked all of their asses in a 1 against 5 battle. They agreed to leave Galactic, and I held up my end of the deal,"

"You sure had us fooled, Paul," Green-eyes interrupted with a bout of laughter. "You were like our icon. I'm sure Dawn would love to hear what you did after that, huh, old buddy?"

"Will you shut up?" Paul snapped. "Anyway, after my 7th gym badge, I told them to go to an empty building in Snowpoint City-"

"And the cops were waiting for us," the man said darkly, pulling something smooth and metal from his pocket. "We spent 9 months rotting in jail because of you,"

"It couldn't hold us long though," this came from directly above me, where the grunt was holding me down.

I rolled my eyes, but the gesture froze in my skull as my gaze settled on the object that Green-eyes had yanked out. He slid the thing over his fingers. It was metal, brass by the looks of it.

"Well, you only have yourself to blame for this," He advanced on Paul with the fist holding the metal device clenched.

The moment I realized what the thing was, I extended my arms to their full length and used the momentum of the shove to fling my head back into the grunt's chin. His grip vanished immediately with a shout of pain, and I wheeled around and kicked him over.

The head grunt's eyes grew huge as I ground the heel of my boot into my attacker's nose. "What the- somebody stop that bitch!"

Two of the guys holding Paul suddenly left their positions to rush at me. Darnit. I hadn't thought this far in advance. My heart stampeded ahead of my head as I ducked beneath them and flung myself at full-speed in Paul's direction, whose wide eyes and mouth held agape made him look like there was a bulldozer plowing toward him instead of me.

"Come on!" I shrieked, throwing up my knee to smash the face of the last grunt holding him down. Paul dazedly obeyed, lunging to his feet and speeding alongside me into the safety of the trees lining Solaceon.

Our escape was dovetailed with the furious shouts of the grunts we'd left behind. Actually, by now, I ought to address them by the closest thing I could use to identify them by. Division 89.

"Paul, are you alright?" I puffed as we ran into the sunlight of the little town.

His answer was not words, but something much more effective. He rested his hands on his knees and turned to look fiercely at me. I gasped, for in the woods I hadn't gotten quite as good a look at the damage he'd taken from that kick. Blood flowed freely from his nose and over his lips, down to his chin. The gash on his cheek was deep red.

My chest compressed around a gust of air, choking me. "Oh, God. How close are we to a Pokémon Center?"

Paul shook his head in defiance. "That's not necessary. I'll be fine,"

His obstinacy astounded me, even after what we'd just run from. Twisting my argument, I realized, would be the only way I would ever get him to listen.

"Think about it this way," I brushed some snow off my arms casually. "Those guys might come around any moment, and we'd be safer if we're in the Center,"

My words floated in the air unheard. I watched angrily as he walked speechlessly up the dirt of the road with his hands crammed in his pockets. Heat began to swell on my face as I was dismissed, and I instantly dashed up behind him.

"Where are you going?"

He replied without glancing at me. "I think you would be safer if you just stayed away from me,"

I froze in my tracks, staring after him as he continued on. "But, I-"

"We got lucky this time. They had worse things in mind for you, Dawn. Just for now, go on with your life, alright?"

Something, some sort of a combination of emotions, was welling in my throat. Dissent, frustration. We were both in a mess. _We're more likely to overpower them if we're together._

"Listen, Paul. They're after both of us now, and what happened back there wouldn't have worked had it been one of us against all of them. I may be wrong, but I think that we have no choice but to stick together,"

Paul suddenly burst out in a rage. "You _are_ wrong!"

I was unfazed by his anger, and unthinkingly, I took his hand in my own and held it tight. I knew that he was only in his own weird state of panic, or at least as panicked as someone as stoic as Paul ever got. "Relax. We'll be fine,"

Amazingly, his hand went slack in mine. In favor of breaking the curious silence, I laughed.

"Did I ever thank you for getting me out of that blizzard?"

"Not that I remember," he mumbled.

"Oh. Well, thank you,"

Paul rolled his eyes. "So I guess that makes us traveling partners then?"

I feigned a look of disapproval as I backed away and dropped his hand. "What? I was thinking 'Partners in avoiding a vengeful group of psychotic ex-cons',"

"That too," for a moment, a bit of his good humor showed through. The faintest fraction of a smile graced the corner of his lips, bringing an incredulous blink to my own eyes. Then I looked again; it was only an illusion. But somehow, the usual glassiness of his gaze had seemed to vanish, leaving behind a domestic, welcoming form. Strange.

* * *

We sat down on a bench in front of the Pokemart, as Paul continued to refuse any sort of medical attention. As the clouds of fear began to clear from me, I realized how many question had been buried beneath, and how many had been simultaneously answered.

"So how many badges do you have now, anyway?" That battle of ours was overwhelming- at least to me. That was not a battle with a trainer at the same level of skill as I was.

Paul relaxed his rigid posture on the bench. "24, including Hoenn, Kanto, and Sinnoh,"

That was all of the gyms, in 3 regions. Suddenly, I fumed. How could he not tell me that before letting me make a fool of myself battling him?

"Thanks for leaving out that little detail when I challenged you," I grumbled.

"If I'd told you, you wouldn't have battled. I needed a little practice match,"

Practice match. Humph. I twiddled my thumbs. "Um… do you do anything besides training and battling?"

"What, like coordinating?" he burst into laughter- a curious action for someone like Paul. "Yeah, I love shoving my team into dresses and making them dance for judges,"

Embarrassed laughter spilled from my mouth. "Same here. It feels like a waste of talent to me, and a bit degrading, depending on the pokémon. I know Croagunk would hate it…" I thought of my Poison-Fighting type with mourning.

Since the 89th company had met up with us in the woods, that probably meant they never went into Reggie's house and thus never saw Croagunk or Buizel. Odds are, my pokémon were perfectly safe.

Then the idea of coordinating relapsed in my mind. "Well, I've been considering trying out a contest, just to see if I like it,"

"Do I have to show up?" he groaned.

"Uh… erm… no, I guess not. Not if you don't want to," Red blush overtook my cold, numb face. "I am a trainer, though, first and foremost, and one of these days I'm gonna beat you, Paul,"

Paul chuckled under the heat of my resolve.

"Good luck with that," He stood up and began down the road again, and I instinctively left my seat follow him as he looked back at me over his shoulder. "We should get out of town first. I don't know how long it'll be before they get here,"

Fear suddenly struck me like a cannonball. We had literally no pokémon, no supplies to catch any, nothing. I grimaced.

Paul's eyebrows knit at my expression. "What's wrong?"

"Um, we need some pokémon if we're going to get out of here any time fast," I said.

He nodded, reaching for something along his belt. He pulled out a pokeball. When he caught my disbelieving gaze, he chuckled. "I snatched one guys' Piplup while we were escaping. I have a Salamence in the Day Care center. We can ride him to Hearthome City,"

I stared at him, still in disbelief. If we were headed to Hearthome, I could try the Contest there and challenge Fantina at the same time. I had skipped Pastoria's gym, but what would the difference be, besides a few higher levels?

Paul suddenly frowned, which morphed into a grimace of embarrassment as he handed me the pokeball he held. He ran a hand through his hair awkwardly.

"I have a starter, so, um…"

I took the ball from him and clutched it with both of my hands. He'd given me a Piplup. Sure, the only reason he had it was because he'd stolen it, but still. "Thank you," I said, sincerity welling inside me as we continued on toward the Day Care center.


	3. A Breath of Ambiguity

**Author's Note: **Ack! Sorry for lateness. I was working on a main event in my SoulSilvershipping fic. At least I made this chapter a long one. I know nobody cares, but I thought I would tell you guys that I own Sapphire and HeartGold versions, which help me write HoennChampionshipping and SoulSilvershipping, respectively. I didn't have any Sinnoh games, so I bought Platinum this weekend to help me learn the region's geography. It's a pretty good game, to anybody who was interested in buying it.

Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

...

"Favorite food?"

"Dirt,"

"Favorite elemental type?"

"Question mark, question mark, question mark,"

"Um… favorite color?"

"They all hurt my eyes,"

"Paul," I groaned. "Seriously? You have nothing about yourself that you want me to know besides the whole 89th division thing?"

He shrugged. Piplup lounged quietly on my lap as Salamence flew us higher over the thick snowy bushes of treetops, his wings rising and falling in a steady, lazy pattern. Around the Dragon's teal and crimson body was the painted colossus of the evening sky; it was piercing and bold like a sheet of pristine white-blue smoke, petal pink spreading within it. The horizon kissing the snowy ground was faint orange as it rose up to overtake the sky as time progressed.

"Fine. Well then I will answer my own questions. My favorite food is anything made of chocolate. My favorite type is Poison. My favorite color is pink. But blue is nice, too…"

"Fascinating," Even while being sarcastic, Paul's voice was deep and level, melting into the sultry expanse of the scenery as I continued to stare absently. "Well, I like competitive battling. And traveling. That's about it,"

I smiled. Finally, a similarity. "I love both of those, too. But training alone hasn't worked out so well," Chilled memories of early today's blizzard reawakened in my body, drawing a shiver from my core.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore," he pointed out. "So… was your life remotely interesting before me?"

I frowned bitterly. Not because of the insult, but because he was right. It hadn't been. "Of course it was,"

"What do you do in your free time, then?"

After a moment of musing, I sported an obstinate pout and answered. "I… uh… I like to dance. I can play the guitar. I can beat my older brother in a game of tug of war. I like to shop…"

His shoulders jerked up as though something I'd said had caught his attention. A mildly curious look was on Paul's face when he turned away from directing Salamence to look at me.

"You have an older brother?"

"Yup. His name is Lucas,"

He rubbed the back of his plum-haired head. "You've met my brother. What's yours like?

I pondered. "Let's see, what could I tell you about Lucas…"

Lucas had become a trainer 3 years before me, when I was 11 and Team Galactic was at its peak. He was in Johto now, defeating the gyms there. As I dug for memories, all that came up were images of us as 10 year olds, when his daily activities included throwing me into Lake Verity while I was sleeping, sitting on my head and farting, and snatching food off my plate when I wasn't looking. But then warmer recollections arose. I remembered him catching my Croagunk for me, driving me to Veilstone's Department Store and letting me browse for hours, teaching me the basics of training.

I smiled into the faltering sunset. "He's awesome. I wouldn't have ever owned Croagunk without him,"

"Uh… that's great-"

Salamence made a powerful lurch as his feet thudded down on the ground, bouncing me off his back and flat onto the cold stone of the city, Piplup landing right on my head.

"P-Pip!" The little Water-type gave Salamence an indignant swat on the side for its rudeness. The Dragon-type stretched its neck around to have a heated argument with my pokémon.

Paul folded his arms and shot me a look of nonchalance. "Well, here it is. Hearthome City,"

Suddenly, a huge yawn tumbled from my mouth, my arms stretching out as wide as they could.

He shot me a look of annoyance. "Glad to see you're interested,"

"Sorry. I'm just beat right now… and hungry. Anywhere to stay in the area?" I slurred, picking up Piplup as he flailed persistently, still lost in quarrel with Paul's indifferent Salamence.

Paul's voice rose with his irritation. "Oh, come on! We just flew all the way here-"

He cut off the sentence to fume at me; I'd walked away from him and sat down on a bench after dusting it off and started pretending to snore. To add to the mocking gesture, I looked up at him drunkenly and said, "Were you saying something?"

He growled viciously and plunged his face into his hand, one eye glaring up at me from between his thumb and forefinger. "Ok. You win. Just come with me,"

* * *

Hearthome City was a huge, rolling settlement with nearly every attraction available. The Contest Hall, Fantina's gym. It turned out there _was_ a hotel. After an exhausting walk through the city, late evening had finally fallen, and we needed to get in the building. Fast.

As we approached a crosswalk, my eyes snaked to my left, where Paul was frowning profusely.

I looked away from him to reabsorb the scenery. Gray and violet overtones glazed the city, coating buildings and casting us into pure darkness. There was something very sultry and cynical about this place. I made a mental recording of the chemistry between the dark purples and grays that made up the city's color palette.

We were stopped at the sound of a familiar, spiraling violin ringtone sounding out from inside Paul's pocket. He rolled his eyes at my taste in music and flipped open the pink phone.

"Hello…?" Of course he didn't allow me to pick up my own calls. Frowning at him was proving ineffective (I didn't have the nerve to do much else) until a light suddenly burst into his eyes as he recognized the caller. "Reggie?"

Paul flicked the audio into speaker, allowing Reggie's voice to crackle over the reception. "Paul? What are you doing with Dawn's phone?"

"I'm keeping it warm for her," The comment enthused another eye roll from Paul.

Reggie, tempered against Paul's deadpan mannerisms, seemed to brighten at the bout of sarcasm. "Glad to hear you're alright. Where is Dawn?"

"Right here," I piped up. "Yup, we're both okay. How about you?"

"I'm alright. Say, Dawn- I stopped by the Pokémon Center and dropped off your team in the PC. You can pick them up whenever you feel like it. And about those… men,"

Paul cut in with a resigned sigh. "She already knows about it. They caught up with us in the woods, tossed around a couple threats like they always do. We've got little to show for it, though. Just a couple of scrapes, that's all,"

Reggie fell silent over his end of the phone, and Paul continued.

"The worst of it is just that they can identify Dawn now. They know what she looks like, her name. And that I can be found with her,"

I thought I heard the ending fragment of a sigh before Reggie spoke again. "If that's true, you know what you have to do,"

I couldn't bring myself to be annoyed at the fact I was being referred to as if I wasn't there, as fear had taken the space in my mind. I knew it was foolish, but I wasn't going anywhere. If what Paul said was true- about them being able to identify me as someone affiliated with him- then we were both screwed. We were simply _less_ screwed if we were together. I think that made sense.

"Reggie, if I may say so," I maintained a perfect straight face and projected my quiet voice as best as I could as I advocated myself. "I'd rather keep traveling with Paul. Don't you think that if we separate now, they will pick us off individually? Remember 'Safety in Numbers'," Behind my resolve quaked the onset of pure anxiety. Paul hadn't completely specified the crimes that they'd committed. I didn't want to be alone, nor did I want him to be alone.

"You're sure about this? You know what you're getting in to?" Reggie pressed.

I refrained from nodding stupidly and instead gave a hard, determined, "Yes, I am,"

"Okay then," Suddenly his tone changed to a more lighthearted teasing. "Wow, Paul. You've caused an awful case of devotion. Don't you usually repel girls?"

I laughed at that, if only because Paul was steaming at the comment.

"Oh, shut up," he addressed both of us and dipped his head to obscure the red hue his face had taken on. "Since you're such a smartass, why don't you enlighten us on how to stay away from them?"

"If you have to hang out in public view, make sure you stay around people, or fly. Did you pick up Salamence?'

"Yeah,"

"Good. Stay off the streets at night. Keep your pokémon outside their balls... You act as if I could tell you anything you don't already know," he laughed at the last part.

Of course there was the fact that we were quite literally standing on the edge of nighttime and evening. I wondered how long it would be before Reggie asked us where we were. Or when Paul would give me my phone back.

Paul didn't seem to notice me bridle with irritation, instead taking a light stroll further down the street. I hobbled along behind him as he continued to talk into the phone. He'd muted the sound to a 2 person conversation volume, blockading me from the rest of the conversation.

For a long while we walked onward into a more urban area of the city; the populous visitors grew to an even larger number, scuttling over crosswalks and into shops. Paul did not end the conversation until we were standing in front of a towering hotel. The building's broad face was a frosty shade of lavender, with dark green accents on the windowsills and bright orange potted plants on the balconies of the upper floor rooms. From the corner of my eye, I caught the counter receptionist watching me from outside the glass windows. I tried to ignore the prodding eyes of the receptionist and returned my gaze to read Paul's suddenly somber expression.

He wore a deep seated frown, even more grave looking than usual, as he turned back to look at me. A nauseous twisting sensation gripped my stomach as I tried to decipher his expression. Evening had sank in too deep, and it had become much too dark to see the inflection in his eyes as I placed a hand on the door knob.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, he dropped my phone back in my hand. "You check us in. I'll be back soon,"

No, no he wouldn't. The streetlights had now flickered on, and I could see in the particular glint in his black eyes as he turned away from me that he was lying through his teeth. Fire lit my heels as I inclined myself towards where he was retreating. A clog built of compressed rage, fear, and anxiety blocked my throat. "Wait a minute- Paul!"

I sped after him as he began to vanish amongst the convenient onslaught of pedestrians, his image fading away just as quickly as I'd moved. My head whipped in all different directions in hopes of a trace of him; the entirety of my eyesight was bombarded with people approaching from the multitude of directions that made up this city. Everywhere I looked there was only another person to bump me further backwards.

Beads of sweat collected on my eyebrows. Dammit, dammit…

Simultaneously as I lurched forward over a patch of ice, a hard weight slung me backwards, the edge like an elbow or forearm, banging me into the glass window that made up the portal between the outside world and the hotel's lobby.

One angry voice among many grumbling ones hissed at me; "Watch where you going!"

Blood pulsed gently from my lower lip as my teeth dug into it. "I- I'm sorry,"

The apology was washed away with the sea of people as they continued in their separate ways. Collecting my sanity and sitting down on the windowsill, I wondered what had possessed me. Paul was perfectly capable of going wherever he needed to go in the city. At least this was an urban area. One of Reggie's first warnings was to stay among people.

Still, my heartbeat stampeded absurdly out of control. Had he just _forgotten_ the danger we were in?

I numbly turned to press my cheek into the freezing glass of the lobby window, my skin recoiling from the chill but my body too drained to do anything about it. In the corner of the room sat a Pokémon center-grade PC, being used by a blond woman dressed in black. If I was going to go after him, at least I could get my pokémon. And since I was at the PC, I might as well get all 5 of them.

I found my way around the window pane and into the lobby, the glass doors disappearing before my impatient shove. Some point between my entrance and my quick footsteps advancing behind her, the woman using the computer turned around, slightly startled. My manners got the best of me, and I pulled a reflexive smile as she finished her exchange and collected her pokeballs. As soon as she'd strode away and out the door, I slid into place where she had stood, entering the public access storage boxes. My fingers clicked away at the touch screen, taking me to a screen to enter in the ID numbers of my pokémon.

Argh. This was going too slow. A bead of sweat slipped down my face as I collected my team. Buizel, Croagunk, Houndour, Luxio, Togekiss…

"Dawn?"

A tiny gasp burst through my lips at the familiar voice- my mother?

She wheeled me around by the shoulder before I could do so myself, her face creased with worry like it always did.

"Mom, I didn't know you were in the area…?"

She paid my attempt at casual chat no mind, instead delving into a maze of questions.

"I thought you were in Veilstone? And what happened to you?"

Feeling the barren skin of my lips with my fingertips nearly made me groan with dismay. Of course. The cuts from the ambush in the woods. That, plus the moisture sucking cold, had probably made the entirety of my mouth bear resemblance to Hoenn's desert area.

How could I explain without mentioning the 89th company…? "It's been cold, Mom. I wanted to get a head start on Hearthome, you know, to challenge Fantina- what are you doing here, though?"

"You know me. I couldn't stay home for so long, without anybody to keep me company. You know, since Luc left, and then you, I've been delving back into contests. I was heading over to a nighttime event right now, and here you are," she reevaluated me with a touch of unease curling her full lips into a frown.

Heat seared my heels as I struggled to stay in place. Every second longer I stayed here, conversing as if there was nothing wrong, was another second that the company could find Paul, or even me, with the open view the glass windows gave outside pedestrians.

"Yeah. You know, I was just planning to go challenge the gym leader in the evening slot. I figured the later, the better, with Ghost-types…" I'd shuffled across the room and had one hand on the door.

I guess she understood my false urgency, as she reciprocated my half-hearted wave goodbye as I flung myself out the door and into the cold air of Sinnoh's winter.

As darkness progressed over the city, consequent chill had collected in the air. I ignored my reflex to turn around and go back into the shelter of the hotel, pushing myself faster and faster down the sidewalk. Less people were out and about now than before, and I could maneuver as quickly as needed without worry of bumping into anyone. He had gone in this direction, and if… _they_… had gotten into range of us, they would be near the city limits as well.

As I stomped onwards, it occurred to me to release one of my pokémon for security purposes. My fingers fumbled through my pockets. The second I felt the engraved outline of a flame in one of the pokeballs, I yanked it out and released the pokémon mid-sprint. I heard the familiar roar burst from the mouth of my Houndour as he immediately picked up a pace matching mine, bristling heat emanating from his Fire-type body and saturating the air around me.

"Nice to see you again, buddy," I puffed, charging around a street corner, Houndour pounding at the sidewalk beside me.

Now all that was left to do was track him down.

* * *

My search had ultimately pitted me against the blackness of nighttime, with few traces of Paul- or anyone else, for that matter. Houndour generously maintained a tiny light made of flickering flame in his mouth for me to see. It dyed the purplish sides of buildings a more maroon shade, too much like blood for me to stomach. I wasn't usually one to charge into things head first, but the situation demanded it. He hadn't played fair.

Let's see, only Croagunk, Piplup and Buizel had ever seen Paul, and Piplup probably knew his former trainer. Next thing I knew I had skidded to a stop in the snow, which had just begun to fall again, searching my pockets for Piplup and Buizel's pokeballs. Piplup would know if the company was around, and Buizel would certainly know Paul, if not only for his owning of Elekid. I released the both of them to walk with me. I was fortunate that none of them were evolved; a Floatzel, Houndoom, and Toxicroak would be much more large and conspicuous.

Instantly, Buizel was coiled around my feet in revulsion at the cold, a little pile of snow already collected on her head. Snow had collected on my own head as well, and I drew a hand through my hair to slick some of it out.

I kneeled down to stroke the collected white powder on her head. "You remember Elekid, right?"

Of course she did. Her nose twitched with joy at the mention of her crush.

"-You know his trainer, right? Paul?" Worry cracked my voice into a forlorn, desperate whisper. "Right now I'm looking for him. He said he was going somewhere and would be back, but I know he was lying. I just…"

Buizel made a somber chirping sound, patting my hand with her own aquatic paw.

"I need you to help me find him, okay?"

After an assuring nod, she launched herself down the sidewalk and made a sharp right as opposed to the left I'd been planning to make. Bewildered, I sprinted after her remarkable speed.

As we progressed through the city and out of the more bustling, urban setting of Hearthome, chain link fencing began to take over the commercial area, its coiled, wiry arms twisting under the piles of snow and lining the sidewalk. Its surface was littered with countless holes formed by broken off rust and any other blunt trauma it had received over the years. Buizel had slowed to a creep, yet never looking back as she walked me and my team into what appeared to be a trashed industrial lot behind the violet charms of the city.

A resounding chill fluttered through the air, its ominous proportions heavily outweighing that of the snow's frigid embrace. What was it about this place that just felt haunted?

In the same moment that my foot shifted forward, a voice snarled with suck black anger that I choked on my breath. Another human, standing directly behind me.

"Dawn."

Shudders rippled my body as I replied, "Paul…"

A chill managed to animate the posture of my entire body, my shoulders coiling inward with the sound of his voice. And here I'd thought I was alone. I inclined myself to turn around, but he held his hand on my shoulder to prevent my movement.

More footsteps were coming in our direction, from behind.

"Don't turn around," he ordered, and I could feel the slight bristle of his hair brush past my own as he peered over his shoulder.

My voice trembled under my chattering teeth. "What's going on, and why-"

"Listen to me. I have something I need to take care of. If you run, there's a chance that the snow will cover your tracks, but you have to go _now_," His reasoning effort had the ring of a human biding around the sanity of a startled pokémon.

I shook my head, horrified at the idea of leaving him here, moreso than my fear of whatever was walking towards us. "But I don't... I can't-"

Upon realizing my refusal, he felt around blindly behind him, found my quivering spine, and then shoved with a strength that forced me from my adamant position.

"Get _out _of here!"

I stumbled forward despite myself, the beginnings of dampness glazing my vision as my pace picked up into a sprint. Flurries of snow struck my face as I ran, faster than I ever had before. Fearing the worst, I turned to the Dark-Fire type racing alongside me. "Houndour- stay with him,"

As bewildered as he was, my loyal friend obeyed, skidding to a stop and turning back to return to Paul while I kept going forward. Buizel and Croagunk looked upon me uneasily as we ran.

In the near distance I fled from, I heard the faint, sadistic flickers of laughter coming from multiple male bodies. At last, my eyelids couldn't contain the looming tears from spilling over.

_Paul._

_I hope you know what you're doing._


	4. Drunken Compromises

**Author's Note: **Sorry for lateness! I got a bit caught up, publishing new fics. This is basically an introduction for the contest I'm writing for the next chapter *theme from Jaws plays as I bang my head into the wall trying to write an appeal* There is swearing ahead; it is very entertaining, mostly cause it's coming from our resident moe blob DAWN! :D

**

* * *

**

So I was really running. Cowardice, dragging me further and further from where I needed to be. As powerfully as my instinct drove me forward, something else was clinging to my ankles. I could feel myself slowing. Next thing I knew, I had stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk amongst the falling snow. My pokémon skidded to a stop beside me, hopelessly confused.

Still, I was too terrified to turn around; it would have to wait until I knew I was needed. Meanwhile, I ushered my team and myself into an alleyway distanced far enough away from Paul and the approaching group that I could see what was going on without being seen myself. I hushed a nervous whimper from Buizel and peered closer through the darkness and into the faltering light of the street lamp.

Shadows shifted from beneath the dark cover of a building, eking cautiously into the presence of the light. I saw Paul roll his eyes as the darkly clothed group made some sort of confirmation and stepped before him. Buizel's paw clung to my leg and snared me from movement as I lunged forward in a frenzy of panic. Heart speeding through my chest, dripping iciness through my chest, I shrunk back and examined. No fighting, nor was Paul trying to get away. In fact, it looked like they were… talking. _Civilly. _

If I strained my hearing to its limit it was possible to pick up the gist of the conversation.

Paul first muttered something I couldn't hear, then; "-compromise with that?"

Green-eyes responded with a mocking laugh, edging towards Paul. "We're not being watched?"

"Not that I know of," he stared down the enemy as if being forced to taste something grotesque.

It seemed as if Green-eyes was recapping, rattling off details of whatever Paul had said. "So you actually want us to believe that not only are you giving away your career, but melding in your record with ours? You know you could get executed for the shit we pulled, right?" His laughter rang of incredulousness at Paul's madness. "I don't know. Why should we trust you?"

"No reason, besides what you just said," the coolness he retained was astonishing. His previous association with the company was obvious with every word, chillingly so. What had these people done?

"…Nah, not feeling _convinced_,"

The moment I returned my gaze to the ensuing scene, my heart made a sickening lurch. Green-eyes was shoving Paul back, speaking way too low for me to hear. Even in the perfect blackness of his eyes, a strange form of apathy showed, like he'd submitted to his fate. No. _No_. Not while I was here.

The very notion drew clouds of rage from my stomach. I picked up a discarded rake, broken in half so that the rusted metal teeth were sharp and braced outward like claws. It was time for me to make my grand entrance.

"_Buizel!" _The usually cowardly Water-type lunged across the street, blasting a wide column of water from her open mouth between Paul and the company. Shock got the better of them, Paul tumbling backwards onto the sidewalk with the others spluttering disbelieving obscenities. I dashed out behind her and skidded into place on the sidewalk, making a wild swat for Green-eyes' face as he lunged for my pokémon.

"I think I've heard enough," A deep, flaring red heat grew and writhed in waiting inside my throat, turning my voice into a hiss. "First, you're going to tell me what you're doing here. Then you're going to get out of here before I kill you all myself, understood?"

My hand clenched over the head of the jagged head of the metal rake as they searched my face for a trace of uncertainty. I was too mindless with shock at my own actions to hear Paul's growls of protest behind me. "Now _start talking_,"

I had hardly noticed that the teeth of the rake were dripping lightly of blood, matching 4 claw-shaped scratches on his face as he scowled back at me. His hesitation was only fueling the fire. After another moment of his speechlessness, I edged forward. These men were hardened by the wear of years of crime and jail time, though, and stood their ground.

"Alright, fine. Just put that thing down,"

I focused all my newfound energy into keeping myself from shuddering; I couldn't tell what expression distorted my features with the effort. Anything but fear.

"-Okay, don't then," he glanced down at my crude weapon again before continuing. "Paul called us here, alright?" He looked around me to glare at Paul. "-And there will be no goddamned 'compromises'. You'll be in jail eventually, Paul. You'll get yours,"

They backed away, leaving the faint visibility given by the streetlight to vanish in the fresh load of snow. It was over, for just a moment at least. That was all I wanted. Buizel remained braced at my side in case they decided to turn around again, but I beckoned to her as I faced my liar and collapsed in a panic-stricken blob on the sidewalk.

"2nd time, huh?" I mimicked his frown. "What are you trying to do, Paul? Actually, what did you do? With _them_?"

"You had to ask?" His usual deep seated frown was an expression of wariness now, not quite with me, but with the situation. I nodded to egg him on. "When you're acting like a member of a criminal group, you sometimes have to do things that you can't really… act,"

"Murder?"

"No!"

"Rape?"

"Not quite that,"

"Um… carjacking? Assault? Stealing pokémon?"

He nodded. "You've got it. I don't own any stolen pokémon, and no stolen cars… _personally_. But assault is hard to fake,"

I swallowed that for a long moment. At least it wasn't murder, or rape. Or even willingly done. "Okay," I exhaled, exhaustion crashing onto my shoulders. "I can forgive that,"

"You can forgive it, but you have to keep quiet about everything you know now. Not everybody can do that,"

Well, I'd gone this far. "I'm a traveler now. Who's there to tell?"

Paul turned to walk back in the direction I'd come in, Houndour returning to my side as I followed.

"Good- now let's get out of here. I think another snowstorm is coming,"

* * *

He was right. Snow collected on the wide windowsill of our two-bed room in the hotel, coming down in flurries with no consistency. By 11 PM, the sky was a grayish white fuzz of snowfall, and we both sat lounging on either bed in sweats and t-shirts. Buizel slept soundly by my feet with that toddler innocence only an orange marine pokémon could emit, the remainder of my team in their balls for the night. Car accidents and warnings of black ice dominated the news programs, littered in between them were cheesy Valentine's specials blaring their ads over every other channel. Paul was flipping through each channel- all 400 or so of them- for no reason other than to feel his thumb move, it seemed. For the first time in a while, the prodding coals of my loneliness seemed to die out.

Faintly dreaming of dancing, I flopped onto my back and stared up at the cream swirl pattern of the ceiling. "Paul?"

He gave me a bored look, and I awkwardly went on. "-did always winning ever get boring? Have you ever lost on purpose?"

"I don't know,"

"Great answer."

"Stupid question, stupid answer,"

I groaned at his dismissive attitude. "Come on, have you? Lost, I mean?"

A long moment of silence fell over the room as he buried through his memory. As if he had to. If he had ever lost, he would have remembered it.

"Once,"

There was mournfulness to his answer, born of some reason I knew he wasn't going to tell me. I figured I might as well try.

The springs of the bed squealed as I turned onto my side on the mattress. "You know I'm going to ask who,"

I could feel him clamming up again. "Nobody you would know,"

"Try me,"

His dark eyes averted from mine again, paying fake attention to the TV screen. There was a soap opera in Spanish playing, and two men were arguing in a hospital room while a woman wrapped in bandages slept soundly in the bed.

Meanwhile, he'd mumbled the answer, but it didn't catch my ear.

"Forgive me. Who?" I whispered, trying to let down the impenetrable wall of manners I had up unsucessfully.

His voice was unamused, fast paced, and laden with irritation when he restated his one loss. "A Hoenn Frontier Brain named Brandon. Reggie got his ass kicked by him a year ago and dropped training for good just because of it, and when I tried, the same happened. How do you take down the legendary golems, without owning legendaries yourself?"

Something about the angry drawl he'd adopted told me that he wasn't entirely talking to me anymore, something that shouldn't have bothered me by now. Yet, frustration bubbled like popping gravel in my head and pressed me to dig my teeth into my lip indignantly. When I relaxed my neck and turned my head to look at him, he was already watching me, black eyes glassy with his strange manner of focusing his attention.

I remembered I hadn't answered his question. "Oh. I know you couldn't care less about the advice of someone you lost to-"

"It's like you've known be forever," he deadpanned. I flung a pillow at his head halfheartedly, catching him unprepared with a face full of fabric and down feathers.

"As I was saying, the best idea would be to… how do I put it?" I jumped to my feet with newfound energy, grabbing an ill-fated hairbrush to cosplay as my microphone; time for some old fashioned melodrama.

Paul had a look in his eyes that bordered between caution and sheer horror as I messed up my jet black hair and deepened my voice, all in an attempt to imitate him that made me sound like a wannabe seductress on Viagra.

"Excuuuuuuuuse me? Is that a Regice? What in fuck is this? Is this some kind of a joke?"

Hilarious shrillness overtook my voice as I strutted across the room, nose in the air, waving my arms around like a psychotic tyrant. "If _he_ gets a Regice, I want a Registeel! WHHHAT? Oh, _HELL_ no! He has that too? AND Regirock? This is _BULLSHIT!_"

To complete the act, I flung the hairbrush I held as hard as I could; the poor hunk of wood went flying through the glass window like greased lightning, shattering the cold pane and sending it plummeting into the blackness of the night. What was funnier was that I actually heard the thump of wood on flesh, and then a Glameow hiss with fury like in comedy sitcoms. My deep bow and equally wide grin was dovetailed beautifully to the angry shouts of pedestrians from far below the room.

When I looked up, there was no suave chuckle from Paul. He had the pillow I'd thrown clutched over his face as he cracked up with such uncontrolled vigor that a proud fluttering tickled the inside of my stomach. I'd actually made him laugh. Like a _hyena_, too.

Before long, I'd joined him, flopping back on his bed and practically singing with happiness into the curled pattern of the ceiling.

Breathlessness broke his sentence into 10 separate parts. "You sounded like a Nazi with a lisp,"

I tried to picture Paul dressed like a Nazi, with a lisp, and cracked up harder. The dark military threads I imagined were a strangely attractive tribute to his eyes, while the lisp was a hilarious subversion to his smooth voice.

My last fit of laughter sank out of me as I sat up on the edge of the bed, thinking about what I deeply needed right now.

I needed to dance.

"Dawn…?" Paul's skeptical tone barely scratched the bubble I'd formed around my head as I hopped off the bed and went rummaging through my bag. With efficiency only magic could do, I'd forgotten how exhausted I was. At last my fingers hit the smooth screen of my phone.

Part of why I absolutely needed this thing was the fact that it held my music. I was nothing without a melody floating behind my every thought, every step, to turn it into something more graceful and meaningful. A fire lit inside me, melting away the memories of exhaustion tugging at my bones. I launched into a dance that replaced all that was inside me to a twisting void of basslines, guitar riffs, feathery synth, and drum beats.

Paul's expression grew from completely lost to livid in a record of 4 seconds, steel lining his gaze and a hand running through his hair in exasperation.

"Turn that off," he hissed. With a voice as compelling and harsh as that, he had the potential to be a drill sergeant- or hypnotist- if he so chose.

Yet, something urged me to test his patience, like an irritating younger sibling. I chuckled as his eyes narrowed at my little performance, swinging around the room.

With a frustrated groan, he was up and after me, nearly catching my wrist as I moved toward the open window. "Really. That song is obnoxious. Dawn- Dawn…!"

A growl tore from between his clenched teeth as I ducked beneath his arm and pulled his feet out from beneath him, nearly sending him tumbling out the broken window. I cracked up now, feeling like a musical demon in a Disney special. Everything I was doing was a response to his own aura, the brooding unhappiness he'd been smothering the room with since we got here. Something about it was hard not to worry about. A person needed to lighten up every once in a while- even if it meant being forced to dance to Deep House tunes with your drunken and sleep deprived rival.

I sensed the thickest of my stupor being eradicated as my hand whistled past the slightly static-y screen of the TV, Paul still trying to wrestle the phone from me. There was a guardedness to his movements, as though he was trying not to appear as though he was getting engaged in this in any way, now being careful to avoid my feet as they traced paths in the carpet.

I let loose a singing laugh as he grew more and more frustrated, taking more effort to catch what had _been_ my wrist a second ago, only to grasp thin air. I had some skill with uncooperative dance partners, often having been partnered with stubborn younger kids in the studio I went to in Jubilife, so tricking Paul was proving an easy feat.

As his hand whizzed around me to catch the phone, I held it behind my back, standing up on the tips of my toes and gave him a suave tidbit of advice; "All you have to do is dance, and I'll turn it off,"

He wasted no time responding to my ultimatum. "Not feeling convinced,"

I froze, remembering those words from the mouth of someone much more sinister, and missed a step. The music and I sank simultaneously as Paul finally forced me backwards, pinning me like a trapped pokémon beneath his weight.

Choked sounds spluttered from the back of my throat as he turned off the last threads of music, flashing me that same enticing smirk he'd given me at Reggie's house, after our battle. I felt the pressure of his body on top of mine lift as he backed away, leaving me frozen like a frightened mouse on my back.

By the time I'd brought myself to sit up, disarray scattering my thoughts, Paul had seated himself at the end of the bed to observe my slow recovery.

"If you did that to everyone," I began, pouring honesty into the air. "You could get away with anything,"

He dug through his own black sling that lay limp on the bed beside him, producing a bottle of water and taking a long swig to garble out a sentence as he spoke it.

"Hm?" I asked, a weak grin plastered to my face as I gave a fleeting glance to the TV.

"Nothing,"

I left it at that, suddenly too tired to persist. Last thing I remembered before sleep overtook me was the ending of that Spanish soap opera. Somewhere during our skirmish, the woman in the hospital bed was shown being closed into a coffin. One of the two men from the hospital room scene was shown walking away from the burial service, a smirk of pure sadism on his face.

* * *

_Paul._

…

Morning came way too fast. At some point between 9 and 11 AM, my eyes inched open to stare not into the cream/red/brown color variations of the room, but a gaping sea of tannish-gray, molten metal.

As good as I usually was with being startled, no reliable grunt of apathy came to me- only something that sounded like I was choking. Dawn was hovering above me, giving her best effort to wake me up and be polite at the same time. Rocks were tumbling around in my skull as I was dragged through panes of awareness, slowly. Muffled definition edged around the sounds of the city through the broken window; the steady rush of cars below, footsteps, Dawn's mild voice.

Someone slurred out a zombie-like "Huh?". Me, of course.

Finally, I could piece together a word that was coming out of her mouth. "I said, do you want to come? To the contest?"

"Contest?" I blurted. I'd never felt so drunk in my life.

She gestured down her body, cocking an eyebrow. "Well, yeah. Why do you think I'd be wearing this?"

Sure enough, she had her dark hair piled high on her head in curls, the same black fringe hanging over her forehead and framing her face as usual. Instead of the pink coat I'd grown used to, she'd managed to obtain a short dress, champagne satin, clung to her curves like tape.

Hovering around my eardrums, I could hear her persist in getting me out of the bed and out the door, only to be drowned out by the heavy hitting drum sound my heartbeat had taken on, blaring in my ears. As idiotic and embarrassing as it felt to compare myself to a blithering, slightly infatuated dumbass, there was no better way to paraphrase.

"So are you coming?"

Prized composition finally began to douse my brain of confusion, an answer allowing itself to come. And yet, as little as I wanted to be part of an audience of girls and petty critics, something that had been sitting in my gut since I met her spoke for me. "Yeah, sure. Whatever,"

Pure unleaded happiness lit the soft metal of her eyes in regard to my own response. "Okay, I'll meet you at the Contest Hall in-" She gave a quick glance to her phone's screen before continuing, her eyes widening at whatever conclusion she found. "10 minutes. See you there, okay?"

Before I could breathe, she had bolted out of the door, stumbling over the size of her bag as she went. I sighed and snatched my jacket off the back of an armchair, stuck in the stupid, shivery sensation that had turned me into a drunken idiot mere moments ago.

I didn't know what that had been, just that I wanted- possibly needed- more.


	5. Dawn, Ignited

**Author's Note:**

Guess what folks...? Two days ago (March 30, 2011) was my first one year anniversary here on , writing for you guys. I'm glad to be here, and hope to keep working for a long time following today. After squabbling for the time to publish this chapter that day, I got a nice, fat ERROR TYPE 2. Anybody else having that annoying problem?

On the shipping note, I know I've been mellow with the shippiness; things will get hotter next chapter. Promise. ;D

* * *

_Dawn._

…

Maybe this wasn't the best idea. All around me, backstage, swarms of participants dressed to impress scuttled through halls, registering, prepping their pokémon. Meanwhile, Togekiss and Buizel were fuming and ecstatic, respectively, in the gold outfits I'd gotten them while Paul was asleep. I'd allowed Croagunk to sit this one out; Houndour had taken a liking to Paul and stayed with him back at the hotel.

I patted a hand on Togekiss's smooth head. "Aw, come on. This will be fun. You get to dance in the air, Togekiss. And your outfit matches those beautiful eyes. I promise, you'll love it,"

She groaned unhappily, receiving a nudge in the wing from Buizel. Her reprimanding chatters made Togekiss pout even more.

Jittery with anticipation, I unfolded to my full height and went over the routine in my head. If Togekiss was splitting the air at approxamately 4.5 seconds before Buizel, then the gravity from-

"Are you sure about this?"

I didn't even need to turn around to recognize the owner of the cynical voice, but I did anyway. He looked bored and crabby, his hair even more sloppy than usual. Impossibly.

"'Course I am. What do you think of their look?"

Togekiss, knowing I was referring to her, gave a lopsided sort of smile and flapped up to sit on my head, allowing me to stroke her newly-groomed wings.

Paul shrugged, a tired look on his face. "You're asking me? I don't know. I'm going to go find a seat,"

I broadened my shaky smile. It was the most I was going to get from him, so it was best to accept it. As he turned his back to me and left the room, disappearing amongst the flocks of newly arrived audience members, I took a long swig from my water bottle. 5 minutes before the Appeals round began.

The water turned to ice in my throat. _You know how to improvise, _I promised myself. _Keep a clear head._

At last, a voice over the hall's intercom called the first trainer to the arena for their appeal. I didn't remember who was called; I only cared that it wasn't me. Buizel gave me a long, worried stare from by my feet, and I moved to scoop her up into my arms.

I found myself frowning down at the little Water-type, whispering; "I really hope I don't regret this,"

* * *

This was it. An impossible collection of people surrounded me as I stood in the center of the sand arena. It could've been a well-anticipated gym battle. It could've been a match at the Battle Frontier. But it was a contest, one of the competitions that I never thought I'd step into. Yet, my face remained perfectly solemn and calm as the first drum beats of the bossa nova I'd chosen sang out over the silence, and I began to spin on my toes, as fast as I could.

I could almost feel the audience tilting their heads in wonder as their faces whizzed by my face at top speed. As I became more and more of a blur, my hand slung up a premier ball, high over my head.

From it burst a plume of blinding blue out of midair, and then Buizel came barreling out of it, riding an Aqua Jet high into the air. In an instant, the audience was staring straight at the smooth orange rocket ascending high into the air like a shooting star.

Still maintaining the guise of a spinning top to deflect the hail of water that dropped on my head, I slung out a second pokeball to my right; a scorching red glow exploded from it, and a white pokémon began to shoot after Buizel like an ivory cannonball. The lights had gone black; their two glows and a single spotlight on me were all that was visible to the audience.

Suddenly, Togekiss spread her wings out wide and gathered momentum from the ethereal red glow, her feathers seeping of the strange red power. She'd only been in the air a few seconds when she suddenly let out a burst of speed that sent her barreling upward, parallel to Buizel, behind her by a few feet.

I retained my silence as Buizel's head nearly touched the ceiling, and at that very second, I broke off a flow of steps to make a broad motion with my arms, first holding them out wide as the music gathered, and then suddenly crossing the right arm- representing Togekiss- under my left one as the rhythm lit into an orchestra.

Simultaneously, without giving a hint of having seen my command, Togeliss let out a beautiful cry and Sky Attacked through the column of water left behind from Buizel's Aqua Jet, causing an eruption of purple to break lose right beneath Buizel and coat both pokémon in violet sparkles.

I closed my eyes and slung my body into a wide arc that quickly became a rapid spinning, like when I'd released them from their balls. Togekiss mimicked my twirling by suddenly launching into a high-speed orbit, flying down in a twirling dive as if going down an invisible drain and darting in and out of the descending film of violet as she went. Her red glow became increasingly magenta every time she dipped into the screen of purple, and she soon became a blinding, shocking violet.

Buizel, however, began a sheer drop. All water coating her body vanished and she became not an orange rocket, but a purple _bullet_- doused in the violet aura, plummeting down towards me in striking contrast to Togekiss' spiraling. If Togekiss couldn't manage to make it down in time to snatch her out of the air as planned, I was available to catch her.

Yet, instead of shooting out my arms to catch my baby in case of an accident, I stopped spinning and sank into a deep bow that bewildered the audience. I could practically feel them on their toes as Togekiss continued to orbit around a plummeting Buizel, and just as she was about to dive-bomb onto my head, I felt a slight breeze ruffle my curled ponytail as Togekiss broke her spiral and snatched Buizel out of the air.

There was a burst of cheers around me as she swooped upwards again, performing a series of showy flips and twists with Buizel mounted on her back, before stopping at my side. Buizel, a bit dazed but thrilled at her own performance nonetheless, scuttled to my other side and hugged my leg. I murmured a sincere thank you to her and Togekiss before the lights flickered back on and the judges began an evaluation.

A perky and very dazzled-looking Nurse Joy started off, having already begun to gush about the performance. "Wasn't that refreshing? A Coordinator that can dance while also commanding her pokémon without words is a true talent. Your pokémon had such a dramatic, feminine dynamic as well. Beautiful, Dawn,"

I grinned, clutching their empty pokeballs to my chest excitedly. "Thank you. I tried my hardest,"

I refrained from adding _and I loved it, too._

* * *

Next up was the final battle, the deciding match. Thus far, this had been much easier to work with, showing my true colors as a trainer. That, and somewhere in the audience, Paul was finally able to see that I wasn't a miserable weakling, as he'd undoubtedly been thinking.

I stood on one end of the arena, Buizel's pokeball in my hand. Togekiss was exhausted from the rapid flying she'd had to do earlier, while Buizel was exhilarated and enthusiastic. She, like Croagunk, loved fighting.

My eyes stayed glued on the opposite end of the field as the announcer named someone called Ash. I quirked a brow inquisitively as I felt that name ring a bell; Ash, Ash…

And just as a face broadcasted on the news a few months ago popped into my mind, two things happened; an angry wind rattled my bones, coming from where Paul sat in the stands, and the timer buzzed off to begin the battle. I'd been so stricken from that distinct emotion of hatred that Buizel was caught off guard as well; Ash's Pikachu had already begun bounding across the field in a Volt Tackle. I stood there in a daze as I heard my points decrease.

_Volt Tackle_. Holy hell-

"Stand your ground, and prepare Slash!" I ordered, still tingling from the contemptuous discharge lingering in the air. Buizel even seemed to feel it, too, making a shaky miniscule shift to avoid the Pikachu's charge. At that speed, it wouldn't be able to perceive the slight change in its target's location.

"Now catch some static, girl!" Just as the words left my lips, Pikachu darted past Buizel, right beneath her glowing white, outstretched claws.

I watched, marveled, as the static discharge from the Pikachu's attack collected onto Buizel's claws, leaving a glowing yellow spark off her hand.

Ash, clearly the hot-blooded type, leapt to counterattack. "Right back at it!"

Dirt was kicked up as Pikachu skidded across the sand, launching itself back at Buizel at a speed doubling what it had dashed at before.

We had only seconds. "Quick Attack, and then Ice Punch!"

Buizel flung herself at Pikachu with equal speed, perfectly fearless. I heard the audience gasp as her front paws began to gather with ice amongst the sparks of electricity; the effect was like a beacon, with the electric glow reflecting off of the frozen facets of the ice in a blinding glow.

I heard the Pikachu squeak out a startled "Pi?" as Buizel suddenly bounded into the air just as they were about to collide, her fists clenched together in a glowing white ball of static and ice.

"Hit it!" I enthused, and she brought the lustrous white orb of energy on her hands down onto Pikachu's unsuspecting head, shattering the ball right on top of it.

I raised an arm to protect my face as shards of ice, static, and light burst over the arena instantly with a screeching kind of sound that wrenched at my eardrums. I prayed the audience couldn't perceive the ugly noise as well as I could; we'd have to work on that.

By the time I could bring myself to blink, Buizel had bounced back and away from Pikachu, her tea green eyes blazing with pride and her orange body alight with spurts of static. In the background, I heard one of our points bars decrease. Definitely Ash's.

The wild-haired boy scowled a few long moments as his Pikachu gathered itself out of the dust, its forehead badly freeze-burned.

"Volt Tackle again, Pikachu!" he ordered. I stumbled back in shock before I could reprimand myself. Was he really going to try that again?

I regained my indomitableness and stared him right in the eyes as I decided to try his repeat method. "You too, Buizel! Quick Attack!"

She flung herself back at Pikachu accordingly, looking gorgeous and sparkling like a chandelier. The effect itself was so formidable and stunning that I heard Ash losing even more points, just for being outclassed. I could tell that I was dealing with a trainer, not a coordinator.

As they were about to crash, Buizel lunged into the air again, kicking up plumes of dust as she did so. I looked up to evaluate Ash's response, and found myself staring into a devious, grinning face. I realized, far too late to salvage myself, that I'd been tricked.

Buizel was about to bring her clenched fists together to club Pikachu with the electrified Ice Punch, and Pikachu was about to receive the hit- when Ash suddenly called out, "Iron Tail, now!"

I thought I saw the little Electric-type smirk as it performed an acrobatic bound into the air, its steel-hard tail whizzing through the air like a whip and meeting up with Buizel's hands. There was another explosion of ice and static, but this time, Buizel let out a squeal of pain and was launched across the arena, stricken by the shards of her own attack.

The clock was ticking. 15 seconds left on the clock, and we were perfectly matched in score. I subdued an angry growl and gave my pokémon her next command, just as she landed back on the ground.

"Aqua Jet!" I shouted, making a motion with my arms, beckoning her upward like in our appeal.

A swelling of relief burst loose inside me as she shook off the hit and burst into the air in a column of water. I felt my heart speed again as the clock reached the final 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Pikachu launched itself for the spot where Aqua Jet had started, where a straight tower of water leading to Buizel grew taller and taller each second.

Ash sounded fervent, on edge; his teeth clenched as he gave his pokémon its next command. "Get right into the jet and use Thunder!"

Had I not been planning for him to do that, I would've staggered back a few feet. Lucky for me, I had. He had left Pikachu in a perfect position to be attacked.

"Now cut off the stream and coil yourself!" I arced my arm into a spiraling motion, and she mimicked it perfectly; doing somersaults in midair.

Pikachu instantly let loose a rift of electricity so powerful that it was pure white, lighting up the column of water like a lightbulb.

"Now launch Swift into the column!" I grinned as the star shaped rays burst from Buizel's mouth, sending a hail of them into the electrocuted water.

Bursts of light and smoke broke loose over the entire arena, blinding the audience for a second time, before the buzzer finally went off.

"And we're finished!" the announcer called over the intercom, just as the smoke began to clear.

Between wisps of smoke, I could make out Buizel's sleek orange body standing triumphantly on top of the exhausted Pikachu, its eyes flickering numbly across the audience. My nerves were about to snap when the screen revealed the final results;

Ash had no more than a ¼ of his points left.

Mine was 2/3 full.

The announcer confirmed my observation. "And that makes Dawn and her Buizel the winners of today's competition!"

I found myself weak in the knees with amazement as the crowd lit into an uproar, cheers sounding all around me. Victory. And yet, all I longed to say was, "Take a look at me now, Paul."

* * *

...

I scuttled outside with a scarlet colored ribbon fresh in the palm of my hand, spirit rising inside me. It would be drastically unlike Paul to wait for me inside, with all the people around, and so the first place I looked was outside the back doors, adjacent to the backstage exit.

And yet, when the sun spilled out around me and struck my face, he was nowhere to be seen. Again, understandable. I clutched my jacket tighter over my shoulders and trudged through the newest layer of snowfall in my high heels. Ever since I'd felt it, it had been burning me to figure out what that sudden sweep of hatred I'd felt at the beginning of the last match had been born from. He had to know something.

"Paul?" I peeked around a corner, to meet the angry gaze of a couple arguing about something. I backed up, baring the palms of my hands in apology. "Oh! I'm sorry, really-"

I scurried out of their view, but not before noticing the female flip me the bird as I left. I gladly returned the gesture as soon as I was sure they couldn't see me.

"Smooth,"

I jumped out of my skin, a frenzied look widening my eyes to the size of dinner plates as they met Paul's coal black ones, approaching me from around the opposite corner.

My head dropped with a sigh of relief, hiding my blush at the same time. "You just love surprising me, don't you?"

He gave me a smirk that spelled out "To no end," wordlessly and perfectly. "So you won with a scattered performance like that?"

That burned like he'd pressed a hot wire to my heart, but though I wasn't exactly steel-hearted, I was hardy. I could take criticism. "Yeah. It was messy at the beginning, huh? But what did you think of the whole Chandalier Punch thing Buizel pulled off?"

He shrugged. "Fine,"

I knew where my bravado had gotten me last time, but I couldn't help myself; "You say that as if you could do so much better. I'd like to see you own anybody as well as I owned Ash,"

"It's funny you'd say that," he muttered, making a beeline for the sidewalk that peeked out from around the side of the Contest Hall. Naturally, I followed. "-he's my rival,"

That was unexpected. I suddenly began to feel the anger again, the clashing of views and emotions. "You _are_ a coordinator? Or is he a trainer?"

I'd speculated the latter just by paying close attention to Ash's battling style, but hearing it straight from Paul would be more of a confirmation.

"We are both trainers. I don't coordinate, I don't perform, and I don't _dance_," he added the last bit in reference to my appeal.

"You don't dance?" I teased. "Because I distinctly remember you getting a bit soulful while chasing me around the hotel room," I grinned and swung my hips mockingly, not caring about the entire double-entendre I was pulling all the while.

Suddenly, instead of giving me a scathing shut up, he pinned me to wall of the building by my shoulder, towering over me with a coal black stare that ignited a flush over my entire face. My skin scorched with a bizarre longing as he backed away again, leaving me to rummage through my scattered plain of thoughts. I sucked in a silent deep breath as my eyes flooded with light, where his shadow had towered over me.

I eased myself back into motion again, stumbling after him as he reached the crowded sidewalk. Then I remembered his comment. I had been secretly hoping that maybe I could drag him to the dance studio in southern Hearthome, where I had been taking dance for the last 6 years, just to waste a little breath on convincing him to try it. I couldn't stifle my giggle as I thought about me, dragging him through the front doors with pedestrians staring. Hm... that was something entertaining to consider. Things had been too intense lately. This upper city clamor was beginning to choke me.

On top of that, we'd already spent enough time in this urban section of the city to be safe. Maybe too much. Who knew when the 89th company would be back?

"You're worried about the guys?" Paul suddenly answered my thoughts, glancing back at me from over his shoulder.

Shock squeezed my breath out of my chest. Had I been mumbling…?

His eyes widened in the slightest, before he shrugged off the bizarre connection and changed the subject. "Or the fact that no, last night I was not, nor will I ever, dance_?_"

I made a prompt decision to go along with it, reigniting the idea in my mind. Southern Hearthome was only a Salamence's wingbeat away. "You don't dance?" I sported a one sided grin and giggled; "You haven't dealt with_me_ yet,"


	6. Orchestras Unplanned

**Author's Note: **I AM BACK!

...

Eh... hehe... yeah... that didn't take me long, did it?

Since I won't be able to apologize enough within a reasonable timeframe, I'll just shut up and get on with it. xD

* * *

_Dawn._

...

Far before I was ready for it, the events of the morning had past, the warmth of a promising breeze being moved south and replaced by a chilly one. After a while sitting on the bench outside the contest hallin silence, Paul had brought me to the Pokemon Center with him, his aura still imbued in silent thought. As for the me, victor of the day, (and how I loved the sound of that) the glow on my face was undeniable. Grinning, I turned the silk ribbon over in my hands. Despite the fact that pride blared from me like a siren, I was well ignored by Paul as he led the way down the sidewalk and into the building.

Within a few minutes, I was standing an armspan away from him, my eyes roving the orange interior of the Pokemon Center with newfound idleness. The sound of keyboards clacking and the familiar jingle of pokemon being restored to full health behind the nurse's counter flitted through the lobby. I could hear every rhythmic footstep, every muffled word in the place as if they had reached me through some sort of a neural network laced through the floorboards. The sound skated into my ears where it was nursed into a melody. Ignorant of the few people that turned to look, I began a methodic left-right shuffling of my heels in tribute to the music. Though I could catch his eye look back at me quizically once or twice, Paul went on with his transaction at the PC.

_Thank you for using Hearthome Storage._

I blinked to see Paul turn away from the computer and cram some shrunken pokeballs into his pocket. Maybe I was overanalyzing, but he appeared almost contemplative as he saw me standing patiently behind him.

For a moment we simply stared at each other until I felt compelled to avert my eyes. Almost as soon as I'd done so, he slid by me and headed for the exit.

I called after him;

"Going somewhere?"

I had distinctly remembered him saying we could hang out here for a few hours.

"Yeah, just... try to entertain yourself for a while. Meet me at the arena down the street at 5," He said, dismissive in his gruffness.

I pursed my lips at the notion; I didn't want any surprises. That was my job here. "And we won't be too long, right?"

My traveling partner turned around as he reached the doorway, and despite our distance I could see clear as day the smirk he had on his faintly tanned face. "Nope, it won't be long at all,"

* * *

...

By midafternoon I stood by myself outside a local diner, a latte in my hand, my coat buttoned closed over the dark dress underneath. Lifting the steaming caramel beverage and taking a sip, I wondered how Paul could bear to spend 3 hours at the arena training when I doubted I could manage to _watch _a battle long. Didn't he get tired? More importantly, didn't his pokemon get tired?

I briefly paused my thoughts to stare at the steam emitting from the drink, soaking in the sounds of the bustling city around me. And how... how did he train? I had been curious about the gifted trainer since the battle we had together, and I felt like that side of him was nearly a complete stranger to me, especially considering the extent of which I knew everything else I knew. Sure, I'd heard of what he'd done with his skill. I'd seen the considerable amount of looks of recognition distributed his way as we walked down the sidewalk, but still. My curiosity was killing me.

I looked down at the reading on my clock, a grin forming as it declared the hour to be 4:00.

My timing had been nothing short of perfect, and with a single phone call I'd confirmed that my studio back in Jubilife was hosting the first annual winter gala in Hearthome at 8. The white masks I had hidden in my breastpocket burned against me, making me grin with wild excitement.

It was still a mystery to me, though, how I would be spending the time between now and 5. I seriously hoped that Paul had nothing lengthy in mind. There's seldom a day when I'm not up for just about anything, but whatever his plan was, I was not battling _him_ in front of a crowd, that was for sure. I gave a subconscious pout. Noo way.

After a moment of deliberation I decided to assume he simply intended to discuss our plans to leave the city in a place where people were too busy to eavesdrop. Or did he have something else to tell me?

A midday chill smoothed across my face.

I had been smiling softly at an old woman who walked alone when suddenly I felt the bag at my side rattle. Puzzled, I unzipped it; Buizel stared up at me from inside the semi-transparent ball, impatience creasing her small face.

I laughed. "Hm. Come on out, little one,"

Enthused, the small water type bounced onto the sidewalk with a beam of red trailing behind her, and just as her feet hit the ground, launched off in the direction of the local arena.

My eyes rounded as she flew over the snowy cement with speed I'd never seen from her before. On pure instinct I began to pound after her, despite the imminent possibility that I could break an ankle in my black heels.

* * *

...

Five minutes of ceaseless running followed. She skidded to a sharp stop right outside a high, _high_ wire fence, disappearing into the open gate with me following closely after. Inside the wire fence was a thick white wall, no shorter than the wire that surrounded it, that protected pedestrians from the debris and pokemon attacks that spanned further than the confines of the arena.

Buizel continued between the two walls, the muffled explosions of battle growing louder and louder, until we reached the steel doors that would open to the sand field. I noticed a screen hanging from the ceiling that read:

FREE TRAINING. 11 AM - 5 PM.

SCHEDULED MATCH: 5-6 PM. Paul H. vs Ash K.

I gave an audible gasp as I read the screen, processed its message. Paul had scheduled a battle? With the boy from the contest? Buizel paid her shocked trainer no mind, instead opting to shove urgently on the steel door with her teeth gritted in frustration.

_Why choose this evening- this very special evening- to get yourself worked up, Paul?_ I let out a deep sigh, and stared at the barrier before me.

Buizel watched intently as I flexed my fingers and planted them on the cold steel in preparation to shove, and with a small grunt pushed them open. The brightness of sunlit sand assaulted my eyes from between them as the battlefield expanded before me.

An arm hovered up to shield my eyes as I passed through and into the arena, quickly dropping speed at the awkward tug the sand made on my high-heeled shoes. There were rows upon rows of empty stone bleachers, a blank scoreboard erected at the opposite end of the field, and fiberglass panels screening the lower seats from the heat of battle.

"Bui-BUIZEL!"

She tugged impatiently at the hem of my coat, seemingly ready to drag me across the packed field. Trainers with lower leveled pokemon were engaged in battles with each other, scratching with claws and pounding at each other with their fists. It was all I could do to just to gather my courage and continue to walk forward.

That was when I noticed through a veil of sand a huge pokemon in the center of the ring, blasting hot attacks as though it were a matter of life and death. I angled my body just the right way and was suddenly bowled over with the intensity of what I saw.

A huge purple arachnid burst from the dust and skated narrowly out of reach of a hissing column of electrity, scuttling to a stop and firing a blast of violet acid back at its opponent, jaws open in a vicious roar. My eyes darted to see what pokemon was being retaliated against, but it was simply too tiny.

Despite my curiosity I refused to rush forward and into the fight, when it suddenly became a necessity. As I dropped to my knees to grab Buizel close, she darted away, weaving through the practice battles of smaller pokemon and their trainers. They'd all crowded to the near end of the arena, avoiding the heat of the battle on the other side.

Without a choice I ran forward, underneath a flurry of bullet seed, only to stop dead in my tracks upon realizing what had attracted my pokemon here.

The toxic blast smacked loudly onto a translucent screen of light, little specks of purple spattering into the air.

The small yellow and black patterned forearm creating the shield dropped, its panting owner beginning to glow white.

My pokemon had crossed the field now, headed straight for Elekid. My heart was crushed in a fist of panic. "Buizel! Get back here!"

The Drapion attacking Elekid lowered its huge claws, watching the transformation with relative disinterest. That was when I noticed Paul, arm outstretched in command of the vicious pokemon.

_His_ pokemon?

He seemed to notice me at about the same time, eyes widening at the side of Buizel wrapping her arms around the glowing Elekid and taking on his glow herself. He turned to see me standing a few feet from the steel entrance.

I rushed up to him as quickly as I could, reminding myself of the debilitating results of my choice of footwear.

"P-Paul?"

The way his mouth tightened without welcome made my face heat. I'd interrupted him. How would I explain why I was here...?

"Paul, I..." Logic was failing me, so I instead leapt for my first source of confusion. "-Why are you having your own pokemon attack each other this way?"

He laughed as though that was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"Because it leads to these results,"

He pointed me in the direction of the two glowing pokemon just as the crystalline sparkling had begun to fade. I could see the large pokemon that had taken Elekid's place, and Buizel- _Floatzel!_- still clinging to the newly evolved Electabuzz. Amazing. Her strength had come from the source of her affection.

Still openmouthed with shock, I had been expecting a longer silence before suddenly the Drapion came barreling at the Electric-type again; he quickly shook off Floatzel and took on a fighting stance, saffron energy collecting at its fists.

My heartbeat intensified beneath the heat of my panic. "Bui-Floatzel! Come back here! Now!"

Paul, that jerk, went on ahead and ordered the pokemon to attack while Floatzel was still locked in place beside Electabuzz, completely bewildered. "Drapion, use Cross Poison!"

_"Floatzel!"_

I watched in shock as the Drapion's glowing purple claws slashed down at Electabuzz, its poison blade pounding against his yellow fist as they jousted in a violent dance of venom and electricity.

I received nothing but a sullen look and a shrug from Paul as my baby was quickly caught in the crossfire, shakily bounding into the air as Drapion's claw nearly raked her across the face.

The angry whine that resounded from my throat in response fell on silent ears.

He was ignoring me. Completely ignoring me! I dug my heel into the sand and leaned forward; he was asking for it now.

Let's see... she would have learned some new moves from her evolution. I had researched this a few years ago...

Ah, now I remember! "Floatzel, Aqua Tail!"

She seemed to grow more confused, seeing as I had not only refrained from angrily collecting her from the battle, but had also fearlessly pitted her against it. She smirked and leapt off strong legs and spun, catching Drapion's jaw with her glowing blue tail.

It roared angrily but held fast, snatching her out of the air and knocking her back down. Electabuzz quickly moved to grab its long arm, sending an electric shock through it.

I gaped at how the battle dynamic had changed, looking over at Paul in search of a reaction, and his responding look of satisfaction simply floored me.

"Hm... shouldn't have done that, Dawn,"

In his hand was another pokeball, which he promptly launched into the air, sending a third of his pokemon onto the field. "Torterra!"

The name struck a chord in me. This was the Grotle he'd challenged me with back at Reggie's house. I watched it materialize and stomp heavily onto the field beside Drapion. He'd managed to evolve it, too?

The stubborn lack of excitement in his eyes both insulted and fascinated me, the rich monotone of his voice making me blush as he addressed me.

"You're confusing your pokemon, idiot. Make a move,"

Contemplating kicking his ankle, I opened my mouth to do just that when a whistle pierced the noise of battle filling the stadium.

_"Free train session is over! Everyone off the field!"_

Drapion and Electabuzz immediately froze and faced Paul, the passion of their fight vanishing as though it were all an act. My mouth threatened to drop again at their automatic, soldier-like obedience.

Their master solemnly held out his arms to retrieve his pokemon, two balls in one hand and one in the other. They were all immediately sucked into the balls in a flash of red. Floatzel returned to my side, a look on her face clearly regarding how she'd gotten much more than she'd bargained for. Approvingly I patted her head.

"You look wonderful and strong," Her responding glow made my heart swell. I'd been think about the contest this morning and the trainer within me worried I would get too hung up in the glitter of performance, and forget the rewards of battle. Her evolution had reassured me, and my heart was still pounding with the thrill of it.

Paul looked almost disappointed as our eyes met again. We'd exchanged almost no words since I'd arrived so unexpectedly. He was the one to break the silence.

"I assume you're aware of what's about to happen?" The playfulness of his smile had me taken aback.

I put my hands on my hips, remembering how irritated I was that he'd scheduled a battle this evening. "Um, yeah. But you said this wouldn't be long, Paul!"

"And I was telling the truth,"

"But the arena is rented for an _hour_, for crying out loud! How could you even-" I lost control of my livid expression as all of a sudden, the puzzle pieces he'd supplied me with about what was about to happen all fell in place. Onto my face creeped a knowing smile as I recognized the brovado in his words.

"Hold on there _Mister_, don't get so cocky. Maybe he won't be as easy as you think,"

He raised his eyebrows. "You beat him,"

For the second time that day I considered introducing his crotch to my shoe, but I stopped myself. "Well, whatever. What's the limit to your teams? And stop smiling like that!"

He returned my look of discomfort with one of blatant offense. He had to know how creepy his smile was.

"The limit is one, and _fuck you_. There's nothing wrong with my smile!"

The bad language shielding his hurt pride held a strange charm for me. My hand raised to playfully poke him in the chest. "There, there, don't be so offended. I like your smile,"

He jerked away from me. "Yeah, whatever. Just go get a seat,"

That was when the disgruntled look in his eyes suddenly made a lot of sense. He had only wanted me to see this battle, to see him pounding his childish rival into the dirt. This revelation brought a sudden smile to my face.

He wanted to impress me?

I laughed. Or he was just being himself.

With Floatzel beaming and largely unhurt at my heels, I returned through the steel doors and made a left into the spectator's stands. There was a sizable space in the first row, on which I seated myself and my newly evolved pokemon.

Pressing a hand over my chest, I found that my heartbeat had quickened considerably since I left the field. I wondered what tricks the trainer I'd just nearly battled myself had in mind for his rival. His _original_ rival, more accurately. More accurately yet, the one indirectly responsible for making him as tough as he is.

I'd battled both him and Ash, but still. How little I knew.

Floatzel pressed her nose to the glass as the spiky-haired boy walked onto the field and took his position opposite of Paul. My watch read 5:02.

"Both opponents ready? _BATTLE!"_


End file.
